In Yes, Prime Minister, Sir Humphrey Appleby spells out the really important things in British life: Radio 3, the countryside, the law, and the universities – both of them. It is an amusing reminder that writing on higher education in the United Kingdom focuses on just a handful of institutions. In History in the House, Richard Davenport-Hines takes this approach much further – to just one discipline in a single Oxford college, Christ Church, known as ‘the House’.

An accomplished historian, Davenport-Hines has previously delved into twentieth-century British history, from Cambridge spies and the Profumo scandal to a celebrated biography of John Maynard Keynes. His writing is precise and engaging, relying on the specific to spell out wider trends in society.